1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular a method and apparatus for organizing data. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for organizing files based on the download location of the files.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the Internet, any computer may communicate with any other computer over the Internet using a variety of languages. These languages also are referred to as protocols. The set of protocols used on the Internet is called transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP). The Internet has revolutionized communications in commerce. For many users, e-mail is a widely used format to communicate over the Internet. Additionally, data is often transferred over the Internet. Users may obtain programs as well as data files over the Internet. The transfer of this type of data is typically facilitated through the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).
In downloading applications and files, a user may download files from various sources. One common occurrence of downloading is when a user downloads a plug-in to access websites or when a user installs programs, such as games, freeware, and shareware from different sites on the Internet.
Currently, these files are typically downloaded into a particular directory or folder for installation. When these files are downloaded, they are not organized based on the particular site from which the files were obtained. For example, operating system patches from an operating system vendor are downloaded into a folder designated for the particular operating system. Identifying the downloaded files based on the location from where they were downloaded is currently unavailable.
Often times, however, a business will repackage these files specifically for use by its employees or customers. When the operating system files are downloaded from the business rather than the operating system vendor, these files are typically placed into the folder for the operating system. As a result, identification of the source from where the files were received is unavailable. As another example, plug-ins often may be downloaded from different sites other than the vendor or creator of the plug-in. These plug-ins are typically organized based on the vendor rather than the source of the plug-in. When the source from which the files were downloaded is unknown, the user is often unable to determine whether the files should be trusted. For example, files downloaded from an employer's site are considered to be trusted while files downloaded from a freeware site may be less trustworthy. Knowing the download location of a file is often desirable because a user may not want to run or use files that are from unknown or questionable sources when at work or connected to a network for the user's employer. The user may wish to run a monitoring program or firewall when a file from a questionable or unknown source is executed to ensure that malicious processes do not run or are stopped.